Asaduddin Owaisi dares Modi's BJP to call for early general election

Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to dissolve Parliament and opt for an early general election. Modi's rule "has not given anything except disappointment," Owaisi, the leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen, said. "Now people are waiting for the elections to teach him and his party a lesson." Owaisi asked Modi what happened to his promise to refrain from taking bribes, and to prevent others from doing so ("Na khaoonga, na khaane doonga."), referring to a multi-crore fraud recently detected by Punjab National Bank. The AIMIM chief was speaking at an event held at Dar-us-Salam in Hyderabad to commemorate the 60th anniversary of his party's formation. Owaisi challenged the BJP and the Indian National Congress to compete for his Lok Sabha seat in Hyderabad. "I challenge the two parties to pick up the strongest candidates, not jokers, to fight from Hyderabad. Let the prime minister address ten meetings in the city. Still Hindus, Muslims, Dalits and Christians will ensure (AI)MIM's victory with a margin of more than two lakhs," he said. Owaisi vowed to make sure the BJP is defeated in the Secundrabad parliamentary constituency, and in the five assembly seats spread across Hyderabad. He predicted a rout of the BJP and the Congress in Telangana, and asked his party workers to prepare for elections. Telanagana will vote in both general and state elections next year. Asauddin Owaisi asked the "janeudhari" Congress why its Muslim members were silent when Sharia, a set of principles based on the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, came under attack in Parliament as a result of a draft law that seeks to criminalise instant triple talaq, or talaq-e-biddat. "They also remained silent when Babri Masjid was demolished," Owaisi said of the Congress party's top leadership. The AIMIM chief conveyed Holi greetings to the Hindu community, and said India's beauty emerged from "the merger of all colours, be it saffron, green, white or black." The Sangh Parivar, he said, "should know that saffron alone is not the colour of India." Source: India Today